The Bloodhound SSC Still Wants to Surpass the 1,000-MPH Mark

A desert test run is on the books for 2018, and you can attend

By The Editors

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04 September 2015

Update December 18th, 2017:

The bad news: Driver Andy Green and the speed demons behind the Bloodhound project have yet to break the land-speed record they first set out to smash a couple of year ago. The good news: They’re getting closer.

Following successful trials in 2017, Green and his team will head to the South African desert to attempt to hit 500 MPH before pushing the speedometer even further. Although this was previously part of the Bloodhound project’s plan, they encountered some delays in 2017 and had to push the South African testing until 2018.

In addition to a new location, the Bloodhound SSC (supersonic car) will have a new set of solid aluminium wheels that were specially designed for the upcoming run.

“The Bloodhound 500 trials will test the car’s performance and handling during one of its most vulnerable phases: the point between 400 and 500 MPH where the stability of the car transitions from being governed by the interaction of the wheels with the desert surface, to being controlled by the vehicle’s aerodynamics,” according to a release from the team.

Sorry, Usain Bolt: the fella who really owns the title of “World’s Fastest Man” is about to get even faster. His name is Andy Green, and in October 2017 in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert, he’s slated to get behind the wheel of the Bloodhound SSC to push his own land speed record of 763 MPH even higher.

The Bloodhound, a follow-up to the previous record-holding ‘97 Thrust SSC, will push the needle in an effort to be the first land vehicle to break 800 MPH (for reference, that’s comparable to hyperloop speeds). But 800 is just the beginning. The British Formula One and aerospace engineers responsible for the build are aiming to set the rocket loose on that 12-mile stretch to not just break, but shatter the record: by hitting the 1,000 MPH mark.

At top speed, Usain Bolt could be issued a speeding ticket in a school zone, at 23.3 mph.

A mature cheetah still has to use the slow lane on the highway, clocking in at 60 mph.

But neither man nor beast is a match for supersonic automobile Bloodhound SSC, whose design team plans to break the current land speed record (763 mph) in 2016...at more than 1,000 mph.

The car — which is “98%” complete — will make its debut on September 25th and 26th, and it’s open to the public.

The machine will be displayed half-open to reveal a Rolls-Royce EJ200 engine, a bundle of Nammo hybrid rockets and a supercharged Jaguar V8 engine, all of which will combine to generate 135,000 horsepower…or the equivalent of about 180 F1 racers.

Fun fact: the temperature in the rockets reaches 3,000 degrees celsius, twice the inside of a volcano, and the jet engine could suck the air out of an entire home in three seconds.

Not impressed?

If you’re aching to see this baby in motion, that’s now possible too. The Bloodhound Project also recently announced its official coming out party on November 17th in Cornwall, UK, though one must be a donor (via their 1K club) to receive an invite.